The Dash Action

Image by Ares Games [4 min read] War of the Ring Second Edition has a reputation. Big board. Lots of pieces. A rulebook that feels like it expects homework. For a long time, that was enough for me to not play it. This article isn’t a review. It’s how I got it to the table anyway—twice—without really knowing what I was doing, and why that was exactly the right way to begin. If you’re sitting on a heavy game and waiting until you “understand it properly,” this is the alternative. Part One — What Actually Stops You Before I played, the friction looked like this: Setup felt like a commitment Not because it’s complicated in design—but because it’s big. Armies across Middle-earth, all needing to be in the right place. The rulebook didn’t land I read it, but it didn’t stick. Too many moving parts without context. It felt like I needed the “right moment” The right opponent. Enough time. Enough understanding. So I didn’t start. That’s the real barrier with games like this—not complexity, but t...

[5 min read] Dune Alien Cyberpunk What's Next? Science fiction is often about imagination—faster-than-light travel, distant worlds, technologies that reshape what it means to be human. And there’s no shortage of incredible settings across books, films, and games that explore those ideas. Worlds like Star Wars capture that sense of adventure—heroic, hopeful, and just a little bit larger than life. But the ones that stay with me aren’t the brightest or the most optimistic. They’re the darker ones. The harsh deserts of  Dune , where power, belief, and ecology are tightly intertwined. The cold corridors of Alien , where survival is never guaranteed. The neon-lit sprawl of Cyberpunk, where technology advances—but society doesn’t keep up. Worlds where the future doesn’t feel distant—but uncomfortably plausible. Dune I borrowed Dune from my dad.  I remember struggling with it at first—names, factions, politics—but reading again as an adult made me truly appreciate it. Not the...

Image by Focus Entertainment  [7 min read] I’ve always thought Warhammer 40K looked cool. Giant armoured super-soldiers. Endless war. Aliens versus humanity. It’s hard not to be drawn in. But coming from tabletop roleplaying games—D&D, Dungeon Crawl Classics, that sort of thing—I didn’t really know where to start. Do I jump into the full army-on-army experience? Or try something smaller? So I tried both. I played through the Warhammer 40K Ultimate Starter Set (the full game), and the Kill Team Starter Set (their smaller skirmish version), with one question in mind: How do I try Warhammer 40K without overwhelming myself? The First Friction: You Don’t Start by Playing The biggest surprise? You don’t start by playing. You start by building miniatures. When I opened the 40K Ultimate Starter Box, my first reaction was: wow, that’s a lot of models . And I’ll be honest—I’m not really a miniatures hobbyist. I like using minis in my RPGs, but I’m not someone who enjoys building and pa...

Image by Modiphius   [5 min read] The Problem With Starting Solo You’ve probably looked at solo roleplaying at some point—and bounced off it. It’s an appealing idea. A game you can play on your own, at your own pace, with a story that unfolds around your character. No scheduling, no need to gather a group, no dependency on anyone else’s time. But then you sit down to actually try it, and something doesn’t quite click. There’s no Game Master guiding you. No structure to lean on. You’re staring at a blank page, or a handful of prompts, and very quickly the question arrives: what do I do next? If you’re coming from board games or miniatures games, that feeling can be even sharper. You’re used to systems that carry you—clear turns, clear rules, clear objectives. Even the most complex campaign game still tells you where to start and what to resolve next. Solo roleplaying doesn’t always do that. It gives you freedom instead. And while that freedom is powerful, it can also feel like frict...

Image by Free League [10 min read] Most roleplaying games don’t fall apart because of bad systems or lack of enthusiasm. They fall apart for human reasons. Someone’s ill. Life gets in the way. The Game Master has to cancel. That quiet assumption — no GM means no play — is doing a lot of damage to our hobby. This article exists because I don’t think that outcome is inevitable. I’ve been spending time with Dragonbane , and one of the things I’ve come to appreciate is how deliberately it lowers the barrier to play - not just the system, but what's included. Right there in the core box you get a solo supplement, a short adventure booklet, and a ruleset that’s happy being bent a little. Here you'll find  three ways to keep the session alive  - either with just you, or your group. Two that come straight out of the Dragonbane box and emulate the GM role And one optional twist that flips the problem around and emulates the characters instead None of these replace a great GM. That’s ...